New jointer - spiral or straight?

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gdoebs

New User
Geoff
I've been joking with my wife that I want to buy a Grizzly G0609 12" Parallelogram jointer for Christmas. She always kinda laughed at me...until this last weekend. I mentioned getting something else instead and she said "I thought you were getting that new jointer."! :tool: So I guess it's as official as it's gonna get. Now, I'm trying to decide what to get. I can get the G00609 with the 4 knife cutterhead for $1795 with free shipping. Or, the G0609X with the spiral head for $2295 plus $255 shipping (total $2550). Or, the G0609, plus the H9291 (Byrd Shelix Head) for $1795 + $635 ($2430 cheaper!).

If I need (want) the spiral head, I'd obviously get the Byrd head. BUT, is the Shelix head worth it? I don't really plane a lot of tough grain woods - my planer does a good job on those. Plus, I have hand planes to clean up any bad tear out.

So thoughts? Knives or Shelix?
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
Hey Geoff..I do not have the Griz, I have a 12" 3-knife jointer.

One thing I noticed is that the 0609Z does not seem to come with the Byrd head, it comes with Grizzly's version, if that matters to you.

So if you really want a Byrd head (and that's what Griz is selling under the "Shelix" name), you'd need to buy aftermarket.

My other observation - most places are selling Shelix heads for 12" jointers for around $1K, so if ~$650 buys you a Shelix, there's likely no cheaper way to get one.

Lastly, have you tried calling Grizzly and seeing if they'll free-ship a 0609Z ? I mean, it's just one little letter different than the 0609....

-Mark
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Geoff congrats on possibly getting a big boy jointer :) I was looking at the samething and decided to go for a combo for my small shop. If you do go with Grizzly don't forget that you can ask them to list the item on ebay so you can take advantaged of the microsoft cash back deal and save as of today 10% which I think is capped at $200.

Every little bit helps :)
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
Get it with a spiral or with a spiral after the fact. You can go to Holbren and get 10 percent off.

There are a few reasons I say go with a spiral.

First and foremost, NO MORE RIPPLES when jointing. The surface is MUCH smoother. I personally have pushed too fast across the machine when I had straight knives and that is no longer an issue.

Next, it is MUCH quieter... It is amazing how much the noise goes down.

Carbide. Less time dealing with getting knives sharpened.

Lastly, you have less tear out, but it isn't perfect. It is better.
 

GeorgeL

New User
George
I've been joking with my wife that I want to buy a Grizzly G0609 12" Parallelogram jointer for Christmas. She always kinda laughed at me...until this last weekend. I mentioned getting something else instead and she said "I thought you were getting that new jointer."! :tool: So I guess it's as official as it's gonna get. Now, I'm trying to decide what to get. I can get the G00609 with the 4 knife cutterhead for $1795 with free shipping. Or, the G0609X with the spiral head for $2295 plus $255 shipping (total $2550). Or, the G0609, plus the H9291 (Byrd Shelix Head) for $1795 + $635 ($2430 cheaper!).

If I need (want) the spiral head, I'd obviously get the Byrd head. BUT, is the Shelix head worth it? I don't really plane a lot of tough grain woods - my planer does a good job on those. Plus, I have hand planes to clean up any bad tear out.

So thoughts? Knives or Shelix?

Geoff,

I have the G0609 with 4-knife cutterhead. I also bought a Byrd cutterhead and installed it myself. The job was simple and straightforward (if you have a press for the bearings :eusa_doh:) If you have long arms (or a 12 year old helper :wink_smil) you do not need to remove the bed as spelled out in the Grizzly instructions.

In the reviews I've read the Byrd cutterhead beats the Grizzly spiral. In real world use the Byrd is hands-down better than the 4-head cutter. :icon_thum

George

PS: I know some guys that have experience moving a G0609 into a basement shop.:wwink:
 

DaveO

New User
DaveO
+1 on the spiral head over the straight knives. Ease of changing inserts is the main reason. If you can go helical over spiral, you'll be all the better. The helical heads give more of a shear cut than do the spirals, and that will result in a better cut no matter what wood you're using.

MTCW,
Dave:)
 

gdoebs

New User
Geoff
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be getting the G0609 and the separate Byrd head.

DaveO, I think this head is helical - at least the description mentions the cutters on at an angle for a shearing action.

GeorgeL, I'm glad to hear you have the same jointer and the Byrd head. I don't have the bearing puller or press so I'll have to find out how you did it. Nor do I have a 12 yr old. :rotflm:Do you rent him?

I took the first step tonight and ordered a Torin Engine Hoist from Northern Tool so I can unload and assemble this beast. Next step is to figure out where I'm going to put it. Time to re-org the shop!
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
I didn't have to use a bearing press when I swapped out my head. I went to Kroger, bought some dry ice, got some acetone, soaked the shaft and the bearings went right on.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
I didn't have to use a bearing press when I swapped out my head. I went to Kroger, bought some dry ice, got some acetone, soaked the shaft and the bearings went right on.
Travis - trying to follow along..you used the dry ice to chill the acetone then dunked the end of the shaft in that ?

Does that have some advantage over heating the bearing ?

-Mark, who is waiting on replacement bearings for his RAS
 

ehpoole

Administrator
Ethan
Re: New jointer - spiral or straight? BEWARE: RANT

[MAD]
Oh well, I had a *really* thorough list of the Pros and Cons of spiral inserts versus straight knives untils this #@#% BBS system logged me off after 10 minutes and lost my submission when I hit the 'Preview' button. :gar-Cr
[/MAD]

I'm not going to spend another 30 minutes retyping it, but I really have to ask the Admins: Is there NO WAY(?!?!?!):eusa_pray to set the session expiry to some sane value, like 60 minutes, rather than the current ~10 minutes? Maybe even allow users to set their own expiry limit within some sane range (e.g. 10-120 minutes)?:help:

I can not even begin to count how many times I have to repeatedly login just when I'm reading various threads. Every time I try to post I get bumped off before I can submit ... and if I fail to switch to another browser tab to relogin BEFORE I submit my response, my response is summarily forwarded to the great bit-bucket-in-the-sky by the BBS system, never to be found, seen, or recovered again... (it just send me to the login screen, then to the intermediate thank your for logging in screen, then dumps me in a blank screen after the redirect :eusa_doh:)

Sorry for this rant, but this has happened to me SO many times now it has really gotten on my nerves! :BangHead: I know it's my own fault for not being a speed reader and speed thinker, but I get the feeling (I hope) that I'm not the only one this happens to.

When I calm down, I'll see if I feel up to retyping it, but I've been up for 32+ hours and I'm too darn tired. (PS - Even this message required re-logging in from another tab before submission, or it too would have been lost... 'course maybe that would have been for the best?)

... Now back to our regular programming :cool:
 

cpowell

Chuck
Senior User
Re: New jointer - spiral or straight? BEWARE: RANT

[MAD]
Oh well, I had a *really* thorough list of the Pros and Cons of spiral inserts versus straight knives untils this #@#% BBS system logged me off after 10 minutes and lost my submission when I hit the 'Preview' button. :gar-Cr
[/MAD]

I'm not going to spend another 30 minutes retyping it, but I really have to ask the Admins: Is there NO WAY(?!?!?!):eusa_pray to set the session expiry to some sane value, like 60 minutes, rather than the current ~10 minutes? Maybe even allow users to set their own expiry limit within some sane range (e.g. 10-120 minutes)?:help:

I can not even begin to count how many times I have to repeatedly login just when I'm reading various threads. Every time I try to post I get bumped off before I can submit ... and if I fail to switch to another browser tab to relogin BEFORE I submit my response, my response is summarily forwarded to the great bit-bucket-in-the-sky by the BBS system, never to be found, seen, or recovered again... (it just send me to the login screen, then to the intermediate thank your for logging in screen, then dumps me in a blank screen after the redirect :eusa_doh:)

Sorry for this rant, but this has happened to me SO many times now it has really gotten on my nerves! :BangHead: I know it's my own fault for not being a speed reader and speed thinker, but I get the feeling (I hope) that I'm not the only one this happens to.

When I calm down, I'll see if I feel up to retyping it, but I've been up for 32+ hours and I'm too darn tired. (PS - Even this message required re-logging in from another tab before submission, or it too would have been lost... 'course maybe that would have been for the best?)

... Now back to our regular programming :cool:

If you type slow like me then maybe you could compose offline in MSWord, notepad, or equivalent then copy/paste the Reply.

I don't recall a problem with timeout and never have to login here. Maybe something else is going on??

Chuck

BTW, I'm not sure about the login thing. I login automatically.
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
You got it. It shrinks the shaft. Is there an advantage? I guess not messing with fire/heat and not worrying about destroying the bearing with such.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
You got it. It shrinks the shaft. Is there an advantage? I guess not messing with fire/heat and not worrying about destroying the bearing with such.
No open flame for me..I set the bearing on any handy incandescent light-bulb for a couple minutes to heat it up.

The arbor-end bearing on my RAS was a real @#$% to pull off, so I think I will try both heating the bearing and chilling the shaft to get a slip fit.

Thanks for the tip
-Mark
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
Kroger sells dry ice. It is neat to put it in a glass of water and tell your kids it is a magic potion.

Not that I have done or would do that.:rolleyes:
 
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